Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat Becomes El Gato Ensombrerado

Children’s laughter and giggles have to be one of the sweetest sounds one can hear. This past weekend, I heard an abundance of this sweet sound at the Bay Area Children’s Theater in Berkeley.

The Bay Area Children’s Theater has decided to bring a childhood classic, The Cat in the Hat, into the modern world. In the vain of Coco, Black Panther, and shoot even the Broadway play, Hamilton, this new childhood play is all about inclusion and diversity celebration. The play is in 80% in Spanish.

Does that mean all the children in the audience came from a Latin household, no? Did I saw children from every background, speaking Spanish? They were excited that they could speak another language.

The beauty of this play is that everyone knows the classic and can follow along.

The play was not only in Spanish, but there were some Latin touches. There was a scene between the cat and the fish, dancing. However, they dance to a tango number. The box that Thing 1 and Thing 2 came in had “Hecho En Mexico.” The fish who was the voice of reason spoke prominently in Spanish.

In addition to the bilingual aspect, the play was interactive. They engage the young audience imagination with prop fewer games. For example, the cat coughed up a “hairball,” but the “hairball” was invisible. There was no ball. But the kids were between the ages 3-7 “saw” the ball, and coughed up their ball and then threw their balls at the cat. It was a precious moment.

If you are in the bay area and want your child to practice their Spanish, go see El Gato Ensombrerado in Berkeley.